Lazy Green Commuter

In which I carry on about transportational challenges and other attempts at treading lightly...

Monday, November 30, 2009

We're trying to figure out whether or not it's time, finally, to take the leap of downsizing to one car. We've been living very close to a bus stop for awhile now, but I've imagined it taking eras to get to work by bus. I decided to go ahead and give it a whirl, encouraged by the Sunrise Guide Metro coupon. I headed out the other day expecting a real drag of a trip, and thanks to the nippy weather, discovered something of a silver lining.

When you drive, you leave the warm house, scurry out to the car, get in, and it's cold in there just like it is outside. And you can't move around much, because you have to drive. Depending on the car, it takes some amount of time for it to warm up. And then your body has to recover from being that cold, so it's a while before it's anything like comfortable.

If you take the bus, you get out there, walk to the bus stop, walk or bounce around to keep yourself from freezing. Then, along comes the bus which is of course Already Warm and thus a relief. You've kept yourself a little bit warm moving around, and then you're rewarded by supreme fossil-fuel-aided warmth.

It's still a big pain to try to figure out the Metro timetable and lug everything in the backpack and be patient with the idling at Elm Street, but boy, when you get on there, it's warm.